


Sail the Friendly Seas

by Zetal (Rodinia)



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Assumptions Are Bad For Communication, Background Otayuri, Likely Inaccurate Nautical Scenes, M/M, Mutual Pining, Nobody trusts anybody, Phichit Has a Secret, Pirate AU, Pirate Captain Celestino, background leoji, background milasara
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-09-27 00:27:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 17,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17151869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodinia/pseuds/Zetal
Summary: Why Phichit climbed onto the barrel, he couldn't quite fully explain to himself.  After all, what did it matter if he drowned now or died later from the cold or from thirst?  Any of those were better than being killed or tortured if he fell into enemy hands.Being rescued by pirates, though... that he could work with.  It certainly doesn't hurt that the captain seems to like him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Phayte](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phayte/gifts).



Phichit clung to the barrel. The ship passing was near enough to see him, which would be a good thing except that Phichit couldn’t see what flag it was flying. There were too many ways this could go wrong for him to try to get its attention. It would be better for him to die than to fall into the hands of his kingdom’s enemies, or pirates. Well, pirates might not be too bad. They might not recognize him, or recognize that the ransom they could get for him would be worth keeping him alive.

Whether it was lucky or not remained to be seen, but the ship came to a stop, turned around, and pulled up beside Phichit. “Ahoy down there! Could you use a hand?”

“No, thank you, I’m good, just bobbing along for the fresh sea air!” Phichit shouted back up. It was no surprise when a rope appeared in front of him. He grabbed on, holding as tightly as he could with his sodden fingers as the rope was hauled up. He glanced down at the barrel, saying farewell to his lifeboat, and then squeezed his eyes closed until he felt himself being hauled over the side of the ship.

Fortunately, over a day at sea had ruined Phichit’s nice clothes beyond recognition. He looked again for a flag, hoping to be able to see whether he was safe or dead, but there wasn’t an identification flag flying. That most likely meant pirates. The sailors who had hauled him up weren’t wearing uniforms, just whatever clothes they had, which meant this wasn’t a warship. It might be an explorer or a merchant who was more afraid of another country’s navy than they were of pirates.

“What’s your name, boy?” one of the older men said, offering Phichit a blanket.

To lie, or not to lie. If these were friends, giving his name and title would be the best thing; if they were enemies, it would be the worst. Pirates, it was a crapshoot. “Who are you?”

The sailor reached for his hip, where a knife hung. “You’re the stranger we just saved. You answer us first.”

Phichit gave him a disarming smile. “I’m the one who might well be killed if I answer wrong. If I die, I’d at least like to know who killed me so I can come back to haunt the right people.”

The sailor nodded, but kept his hand on his knife. “This ship belongs to Captain Celestino Cialdini, a free trader from Italy. I’m Michele.”

“You can call him Salty Mick if you like, we all do,” another sailor said. “Emil, or Black Emil if you insist. And you are?”

Free trader. Could be exactly what it sounded like, could be code for pirates. Either way, he might as well give his name. It wasn’t common, but it also wasn’t rare, either. If they knew of him, they wouldn’t necessarily jump to the conclusion that he was him. “Phichit. I don’t have a nickname like that.”

Emil laughed derisively. “Is that your real name, Phichit?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Well, there’s the little fact that you said that answering wrong would get you killed.” Emil grinned goofily. “You’ll understand the skepticism here. Phichit doesn’t even sound like a real name.”

“If I were going to make up a name, I’d pick something a lot more passable as one, wouldn’t I?” The wind was picking up, and Phichit shivered a little. It bought him time to come up with a reason why he’d consider lying. “I’m not really up on who’s at war with who around here, but I know better than to give a French name to an English ship, and someone who didn’t know my name might mistake it for the wrong kind. A free trader, though, even if Italy’s at war with my country it doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll have trouble with Captain Cialdini. I can be myself.”

“Guess we’ll let the captain decide what to do with you. Follow me.” Michele turned and walked toward the front of the ship. Phichit followed, with Emil a step behind him.

The captain stepped out at the knock. “There a reason you’re disturbing me when I said not to?”

“Unless there was an emergency that couldn’t wait until morning, and there is.” Michele grabbed Phichit’s elbow and pulled him forward. “Found him floating on a barrel. No sign of anyone else. Says his name is Phichit. What do you want us to do with him?”

Captain Cialdini looked Phichit over, face completely blank. “Get back on watch, Mickey. Emil, you too. I’ve got Phichit.”

Michele took off right away, but Emil didn’t. “You sure you don’t want me to stay, Cap? He’s already admitted he’ll lie if he thinks it’ll come across better.”

“And you wouldn’t, on a ship of unknown origin and intentions?” Captain Cialdini fixed him with a glare. “What’s next, questioning his captain’s orders?”

“Just saying! See ya.” Emil headed off, leaving Phichit alone with the rather intimidating captain. Even in his nightshirt, he radiated power. Phichit hoped the shivering would be put entirely down to cold, but it wasn’t.

“Come inside.” Cialdini turned and walked back into his cabin. Phichit followed. The cabin was warmer than outside, at least. Whatever the captain intended to do with him, it couldn’t be worse than being left outside to freeze.

Cialdini handed him a blanket. That would make him even warmer, and Phichit gratefully wrapped it around himself. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. I still haven’t decided what to do with you, but until I do, no reason to be discourteous.” Cialdini poured him a drink and handed it to him. “Phichit, huh? Thai?”

“Yes. The ship I was working on went down. I found an empty barrel and clung for dear life until your guys found me.” All true. He was just leaving out exactly what his job on his old ship was. “Which, by the way, I’m grateful for.”

“Good. You have sense.” Cialdini kicked back. “So tell me. What do you think I should do with you?”

“Depends how much you think you can trust me. Either head for shore and dump me off, or put me to work on your crew.” Phichit leaned forward. “You can trust me enough not to sabotage your ship. That much I’ll promise no matter what.”

“Well, yeah. You’re not stupid. This ship goes down, you go down with it.” Phichit laughed, but didn’t deny it. “The question is, can I trust you not to interfere with our business, and can I trust you not to report us to authorities? I don’t know. I’d like to think so, but if I can’t, my entire crew suffers because of my error in judgment.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Captain. Anything I say, if I’m a liar, you shouldn’t trust, but if I’m not, you should. It’s gonna come down to you. What do you think? Do you think I’m trustworthy?”

Cialdini stared at Phichit in silence for so long that Phichit started to feel uncomfortable under the scrutiny. He’d tried to keep eye contact, but eventually, that failed, and his eyes dropped to the mug in his hands. Whatever was in that mug, it was warm, and it tasted good. He took a couple sips of it while he waited for the captain to decide his fate.

“What exactly did Emil mean about you being willing to lie?”

“I asked for some information so I’d know what lie to tell if I had to for my name.”

“And Emil told you we’re free traders from Italy?”

“Exactly.”

“Do you believe him?”

“The from Italy part, yes. The free traders? That’s code for pirates as often as it is for legitimate merchant ships, and I don’t know which to think you guys are. I don’t mind either way. You may be pirates, but you’re not assholes, or your guys wouldn’t have saved my life.”

Cialdini went back to staring at him in silence. “Watch out for Mickey, he can be an asshole if he thinks you’re flirting with his sister. Stay out of fights. If someone starts something with you, you can fight back, but don’t go starting anything. Make yourself useful. I still haven’t decided if I trust you fully. I trust you enough to give you a chance to prove yourself.”

“Fair enough. Thank you, Captain.” Phichit finished the drink Cialdini had given him. “You want me at work now or in the morning?”

Cialdini shook his head with a smile. “You’ve been through quite the ordeal. I want you to rest as long as you can tomorrow. When you wake up, talk to me if I’m out there, or my first mate, Yuuri. Tell Yuuri I said to put you to work but not to push you too hard right away. Anyone hassles you, tell them to fuck off and let you sleep.” Cialdini took his mug and refilled it, and handed him an orange and a biscuit. “Eat that. Be sure to eat again before reporting to work.”

With so much else on his mind, Phichit’s hunger hadn’t even registered until he smelled the orange as he peeled it. His stomach was making up for lost time now, and he was too impatient to peel and section it properly. Cialdini laughed softly at him as the juice squirted over his face and went over to his desk, looking over a map spread across it. “One more thing before you go to sleep – check in with Christophe, the quartermaster. See if he can’t find you something that isn’t salt-logged to wear.”

“Yes, Captain,” Phichit said once he had his mouth clear enough to speak.


	2. Chapter 2

One visit to Christophe later, Phichit was dressed in old but dry clothes that looked more like what everyone else was wearing. Chris walked him to a bunk and tucked him in. “Sleep tight, new boy.”

Phichit did, dreaming of home and family and nice things. It was interrupted too soon by someone shaking him. “You’ve slept all night, time to get your lazy ass up.”

“The captain said to sleep as much as I could.” Phichit scooted away from the person who was shaking him, a very tall guy with tattoos and blue eyes. “Let me sleep.”

“Captain said to get you up,” the guy shot back. “You’re new. You don’t know the captain. He doesn’t tolerate lazy.”

“I don’t know the captain well, but he told me to sleep and recover. You wanna take this to him?” Phichit really didn’t want to get out of the bunk, but if getting up meant he got to get back in and get left alone, it might be worth it.

“That won’t be necessary.” Both JJ and Phichit turned to look at the new voice. “Phichit, nice to meet you, I’m Yuuri, the first mate. Go back to sleep. JJ, come with me.”

Phichit obeyed orders right away, getting back into a dream of home. When he woke up again, he felt a lot better. He stretched and headed out to find some food. It wasn’t hard, as the ship’s cook took one look at him and brought him into the kitchen. “Captain said we had a new crewman who’d be finding his way down here eventually. Come in, have a seat, eat up.” He set a bowl of stew in front of Phichit. “I’m Leo. Welcome aboard.”

“Thanks.” Phichit scarfed down the stew, barely giving himself a chance to taste it. “So you’re the cook… does that mean you’re the gossip master?”

“I generally know everything that happens on the ship, yeah,” Leo said with a grin. “JJ got his head ripped off by the captain for making up fake orders earlier today. Survival tip: don’t do that. Captain’s usually a pretty chill dude, but he goes ballistic when people use him to try to win an argument. Especially when the orders go against real orders he gave.”

“Heh. Good to know. I’ve already been told not to mess with Michele’s sister. Anything else I should know before I report to work?”

“We’re on our way to pick up some new crew members – survivors of a shipwreck who don’t have enough people left to man their own boats. Don’t mention them. At all. The captain’s not happy about the situation, and Yuuri tends to fall to pieces when they’re mentioned. Other than that, you should be good.”

“If the captain and Yuuri both aren’t happy, why are we getting them?”

“Someone has to, we’re the closest, and we’re not afraid of a half-crew of pirates. Besides, I didn’t say Yuuri wasn’t happy about it, I said he falls apart. One of the guys on that ship is the whole reason Yuuri ever went to sea. We don’t know who survived and who didn’t, so he’s a bit of a wreck any time you mention them.”

“Oh, that makes more sense.” Phichit shoved his bowl away from him. “Thanks for the food and the survival tips.”

 

The captain was on-deck when Phichit made his way up there. “Good to see you, Phichit. For today, I’m sending you off with Yuuri, so he can see what you can and can’t do.” He held out a knife to Phichit. “If you don’t know how to use that to fight, figure it out fast. You may end up needing to defend yourself in a few days.”

Phichit pulled the knife out of its sheath and tested the edge with his thumb, expecting to find it was dull. After all, Cialdini still didn’t trust him, why arm him? To his surprise, while the knife could use some sharpening, it wasn’t too bad after all. Quality was good, at least. “I can make this work. Thanks.”

Yuuri got Phichit working on the lines. Phichit wasn’t all that familiar with the job, but he’d learned enough out of curiosity on his old ship that he was at least not making a fool of himself either. “You might want to steer clear of JJ for a while. He’s not exactly pleased with you.”

“I’m not exactly pleased with him either, and he’s the one who did something wrong.” Phichit checked his knot and stood up. “So what’s the captain’s deal that he’s the kind of guy who arms some random guy he hauled out of the sea?”

“That’s just the kind of guy he is. He believes in people. He’s the one who gave me a chance when I was a starstruck dreamer, and now I’m his right hand. As long as you work hard, listen to orders, and don’t interfere in our business, you’re welcome to be part of our crew.” Yuuri took Phichit to the next line. “Help isn’t interfering, of course. If you get comfortable and decide you want to join us on a raid or a treasure hunt, you’d probably be welcome.”

“So you are pirates.”

Yuuri’s eyebrows shot up. “You didn’t know that, and Celestino still armed you? You betray his trust, I’ll kill you myself.”

“I suspected. I didn’t know. I’m not going to betray him unless he betrays me first, so no need to kill me.” He hoped he wouldn’t be betrayed, of course. He liked Cialdini. He liked this ship. Eventually, his parents might send someone looking, but it was entirely possible that they’d hear about the shipwreck and assume Phichit went down with it. He’d miss home, but he wasn’t going to complain about the freedom out here.


	3. Chapter 3

For the next couple days, Phichit settled in. He kept his head down, making sure that his questions were reasonable and about helping him fit in instead of sounding like he was prying for information. He made himself useful and friendly and by the time he went to his bunk after two full days on board, Yuuri and Leo were both his friends, among several others.

He was summoned to the captain’s quarters when Michele came to relieve him after his third shift. He tried not to let the nervousness show – had Celestino discovered who he was? He knocked. Cialdini opened the door. “You wanted to see me?”

“Come on in.” Cialdini stepped aside, letting Phichit in. “How are you settling in?”

“It’s been good. I’m learning quickly, getting along with the crew, the ship’s well-run so I just fit myself in. If Yuuri has a problem with my work, he hasn’t talked to me about it, so I’m assuming we’re good.”

“Yes. Yuuri told me that if I kick you off the ship he’ll be walking off right behind you. I’m pretty sure he was exaggerating, but I’m not going to test that.” Phichit relaxed and smiled at the thought of Yuuri telling Cialdini that. He agreed, it was probably a joke, but it was nice to know Yuuri had his back enough to joke like that. “You’ve settled in just fine, from my perspective, but I wanted to hear yours. We’ll be making port tomorrow, and if you wanted to leave, you have the opportunity. I wouldn’t recommend taking it, it’s not a very good place, but it’s up to you. You’re welcome to stay.”

Phichit didn’t even think about it. There wasn’t anything to think about. “I’m staying. I’d stay no matter where we were stopping. Maybe if we end up in Thailand, but not much chance of that.” Leaving in Thailand was certainly not because he didn’t want to stay, either. It’s just that he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from getting off the ship to see home, and he’d be recognized if he did. If Cialdini found out who he was…

Cialdini cut into his thoughts. “Good. We’re about to take on some passengers, and depending on who exactly survived, there may be a power struggle. I’d like to know you have my back, if it comes to a fight.”

Again, nothing to think about. Cialdini had taken a chance on him; he’d take the chance on Cialdini. “I will. Do you think that would happen?”

“Like I said, it depends who survived. If their captain or first mate survived, gratitude isn’t exactly something pirates are known for, and what easier way to get a ship than take over the one you’re currently on?” Cialdini sat on the edge of his desk, leaning forward to stare intently at Phichit. “I know you’re making friends on this ship, and that’s good, but there’s one huge concern here. You’d be behind me even if Yuuri sides with them?”

Phichit blinked, taken aback. From what he’d seen and heard, there was an almost insane amount of trust between the captain and his first mate. What had he missed? “You don’t trust Yuuri?”

“I’d trust him with my life and the lives of my crew, under any circumstances but these. If Nikiforov’s one of the survivors, I think Yuuri would try to talk him into finding another ship to take, but push comes to shove? I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find my first mate trying to kill me, if it meant a chance to join Nikiforov’s crew.” Cialdini shook his head. “If Nikiforov decides to take another ship and Yuuri wants to go with him, I’ll let him go without a fight. I know he wants to sail with his idol. If Yuuri betrays me… that’s going to be a bad day.”

Yuuri or Cialdini… that was going to be a terrible choice to make. What was so special about this Nikiforov guy that would cause Yuuri to be so ungrateful and disloyal? Yes, those weren’t unusual terms for a pirate, but Yuuri seemed better than that. “It will be a bad day. I don’t want to choose, but if it comes to that… I’d choose you, unless they had something _really_ good to offer.”

Cialdini took it for the joke it was meant as, bursting into laughter. “I suppose I can’t ask for better than that! Good to know. Do you have your knife on you?”

“Yeah.” Phichit unsheathed it to show Cialdini.

“Good.” Cialdini pulled a knife of his own. “Show me what I’ve got behind me.”

“You’re the captain and you fight with a knife?”

“I wasn’t always a captain, you know. I usually use a sword these days, but I started out with a knife, and I like to keep in practice. Show me what you’ve got.”

Phichit looked at his knife, and then at Cialdini’s. His was sharp, too. “What if I hurt you?”

“I like the confidence!” Cialdini winked at him. “If Yuuri does turn on me, I’d prefer him subdued and taken alive than killed. Fight like you would if you’re the one who has to face him in that situation. I’ll do the same. No lethal wounds, but you might get hurt.”

Phichit shrugged. “Your blood, I guess.” Against Yuuri, he probably wouldn’t start as hard as he did against Cialdini, but the captain was significantly bigger and therefore had a lot of advantages Yuuri wouldn’t. Reach. Strength. Against Yuuri, Phichit wouldn’t need to rely on speed and elusiveness, but he wasn’t fighting Yuuri. Phichit lashed out with a kick to Cialdini’s stomach. A slash to the knife arm drew blood. He spun away, out of Celestino’s reach, and waited.

Celestino didn’t follow. He looked at his arm instead. “Nice.”

“You told me to fight. It’s not my fault you weren’t ready for it.”

“Didn’t say it was.” He put a hand to the arm. It came away bloody. Cialdini walked over to the door and stuck his head out. “Mickey!”

“Yes captain?” Michele shouted back.

“Tell Otabek I need him up here.”

“What should I tell him to bring?”

“Whatever he needs to treat a knife injury.” He closed the door and walked to a chest at the foot of his bed.

Phichit caught the wooden training sword Cialdini tossed him easily. “What’s this for?”

“I’m curious.” Cialdini stood up, striking a stance with another training sword. “Show me what you can do with that.”

This could be… dangerous. Of course he was well-trained with a sword, but how would he explain that to Cialdini? There was no way the captain wouldn’t recognize the kind of skill that came with training since childhood. How to get out of this? “You’re injured.”

Cialdini gave his arm a contemptuous glance. “It’s just a scratch. Otabek’s a precaution, not a necessity. Come on, let’s see what you’ve got.”

From the red on Cialdini’s shirt, Phichit wasn’t so sure it was just a scratch, but captain’s orders were orders. He took his own stance, and this time, Cialdini made the first move. Training overrode Phichit’s intent to at least try to deceive, and he fought back with his actual skill until the knock on the door.

Otabek came in at Cialdini’s call, closing the door behind him and looking over Phichit. “Where and how bad is it?”

“Actually, it’s me,” Cialdini said, never taking his eyes off Phichit. “My arm.” He took off his shirt to let Otabek see the wound clearly.

Phichit laid the training sword on top of the trunk. “I should probably go.”

“No,” Otabek said before Cialdini had a chance to. “I’m going to need your help with this.”

“With a scratch?” Phichit came over and covered his mouth to prevent the gasp. The “scratch” was a lot deeper than he’d thought. “Captain, you should have said something!”

Cialdini’s face had gone a little pale when he saw the true extent of the wound, but now he waved Phichit off as he pulled up a chair. “It wouldn’t have gotten Otabek up here any faster. Honestly, I didn’t realize how bad it was until I got my shirt off.”

“What do you need me to do, Otabek?”

“Hold him as still as you can while I sew up the wound. Here, Captain.” Otabek handed Cialdini something that he put in his mouth and clamped down on. “This is going to hurt. A lot.”

Phichit looked dubiously at Cialdini. “Should I get Emil or JJ or someone like that…?”

“Nnnn.” Cialdini pulled out the leather rod. “No. I don’t want anyone knowing how good you are with that knife. You’re a secret weapon in the event of mutiny. Otabek was necessary, but you’ve seen my pain tolerance. It’s not like he’s having to saw my arm off. You should be able to hold me.”

“I’ll do my best.” Cialdini replaced the leather and Phichit got behind the chair, one arm wrapped around Cialdini’s shoulders and the other holding his elbow. He felt the jerk as Otabek poured some alcohol into the cut, but it wasn’t bad. The first stitch was bad, and Phichit had to tighten his grip around Cialdini’s shoulders, but after that it got much easier. By the time Otabek was finished, Cialdini was barely flinching.

Cialdini turned to look at it as Otabek packed up his supplies. “I know this goes without saying, but I’m saying it. Don’t talk about this, Beka.”

“Right.” He nodded to Phichit and then left.

Cialdini swung his arm around a bit. “Should be okay. Hurts, but I’m not feeling any limitation in motion. It’s just a scratch. A deep scratch, but just a scratch.”

“Plus the blood loss, don’t forget that.” Phichit picked up the bloodstained shirt. “Speaking of, what do you want to do with this?”

“I’ll get as much of the blood out as I can and then keep wearing it. Under my coat, no one’s going to see a stained spot.” Celestino took the shirt from Phichit and tossed it into a bucket. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to fake an injury?”

“If someone asks, I’ll tell them you got me and called Otabek to make sure it wasn’t more serious than it looked and that it would heal well. That’s no problem.” Phichit rather liked the thought of being Cialdini’s secret weapon, honestly. If anyone asked to see it, he could claim that he was told to keep it covered to keep infection out. “Anything else I can do for you, captain?”

Cialdini hesitated and then shook his head. “Not that I’d expect you’d be willing to do. Go get some rest.”


	4. Chapter 4

Yuuri came to find Phichit the next morning. “How bad is it?”

Phichit looked up from the sail he was mending. “Is what? The sail? It’s just a rip, it’ll be good as new after some stitches.”

“Your injury. Otabek gets called to the captain’s quarters, that means either someone’s in trouble or Celestino’s testing a new crewman’s fighting skill. It’s about the right time for him to decide to see what he’s got in you, and I’d have heard if there were serious enough trouble for Otabek to be involved, so. How bad’s your injury?”

“Oh, right.” Phichit had rehearsed the story before going to bed so that he’d have one to keep consistent. “Not bad. It was just a scratch, Captain Cialdini called Otabek as a precaution more than anything since it was to my belly.” He'd considered cutting himself for real, just in case, but decided against it. Too much to go wrong.

“Good to hear.” Yuuri ruffled Phichit’s hair. “You up to being part of the shore party when we get to port? I’m not expecting anything more than walking and talking, but we are meeting pirates. A fight could break out. Celestino thought you’d be fine for it, but if you don’t want to risk injuring yourself further, I can take Sara or Guang Hong instead.”

“I’m fine. Don’t want to get you in trouble for not taking me.”

“Celestino trusts my judgment when it comes to picking a team.”

It was easy to believe that was normally the case, but with Cialdini’s doubts about Nikiforov, it was likely that Cialdini wanted people he could trust to go. At least one person. Whether Cialdini actually trusted him, well, Phichit didn’t necessarily understand it, but he couldn’t imagine the captain would express doubt in someone he trusted as much as he trusted Yuuri if he didn’t trust Phichit to some extent. “I’m fine. I promise. If it comes to a fight, I’ll hold my own.”

 

Yuuri accepted that, so Phichit found himself joining Yuuri, Seung Gil, and Emil in the shore party. Yuuri led them toward a tavern – it was the natural place to look for grounded pirates. Just outside, he stopped and stared at a tall and very handsome man sitting at an outdoor table with a pint in his hand, talking to a small blond guy. Emil grinned and smacked Yuuri’s shoulder. “Congratulations. You get to meet your hero. Come on, dude, you’re in charge, you’ve gotta do the talking here.”

“Um… how? What am I supposed to say to him?” Yuuri squeaked out.

“Introduce yourself as Celestino’s first mate and tell him to round up whoever else we’re supposed to be bringing up and follow you. It’s not that hard, Yuuri,” Emil said. “You might introduce the rest of us and ask him to introduce his guys.”

“I could do it,” Seung Gil said, voice flat. Phichit bit his lip. Seung Gil as their talker was bound to be a complete disaster, but as the new guy, Phichit didn’t want to object. Yuuri knew Seung Gil better than Phichit did; maybe this was something he was actually good at.

“That is a terrible idea.” Yuuri drew himself up, pulled out a flask and took a long swig, and then started toward the man he’d been staring at. Phichit and the others followed him, Seung Gil and Emil exchanging a smirk. “Viktor Nikiforov?”

The tall man turned his attention. “That’s me! Are you the rescue party?”

Despite his blush, Yuuri managed to sound like a proper officer. “Yes. I’m Katsuki Yuuri, first mate to Celestino Cialdini. Get whoever’s left of your crew and come with us.”

“Yuri, go find Mila.” The blond took off as Yuuri looked around. Viktor chuckled. “This may get confusing. That was Yuri Plisetsky, one of the other survivors of the shipwreck. There are only five of us, so we shouldn’t be too much strain on your ship’s resources!”

Five meant little chance of a mutiny to commandeer the ship, too. Cialdini would likely be happy with this news. On the other hand, Nikiforov was a charismatic guy. Phichit could understand why people might flip to follow him.

“Okay, so you, Yuri, and Mila… who are the others?” Emil asked. “Captain Feltsman make it?”

“No.” Either Nikiforov was a very good actor, or that was genuine grief Phichit saw in his eyes before he ducked his head. “Georgi Popovich, and then our ship’s dog, Makkachin.” A brown blob of fur looked up and barked, and Yuuri’s soppy smile got even bigger. “Yakov stayed to go down with the ship.”

“I guess that makes you the captain now.” Emil folded his arms across his chest.

Nikiforov shook his head with a big smile. “What use is a title of captain if you don’t have a ship or a proper crew? I don’t want trouble with Captain Cialdini. After he drops us off somewhere and I can put together a proper crew, _then_ I’ll be a captain. If I don’t just sign on with another captain instead!”

“Why would you do that? Don’t you want to be a captain?” Yuuri asked.

“I’d love it!” Viktor winked, and Seung Gil had to put a hand on Yuuri’s shoulder to keep him steady. “For about a month. Then all the responsibility and headaches and worries would drag me down and I’d start hating my life. First mate was perfect.” As much as it shouldn’t, that somehow rang true to Phichit. Maybe it was that he could sympathize. Viktor looked around at Yuuri’s team, and when his eyes met Phichit’s, Phichit could see the flash of surprise there. “Who did you bring with you?”

“Emil, Seung Gil, and Phichit.” Yuuri pointed to each in turn. “Emil because he’s our ship’s best fighter so he gives us our best chance if you decided to attack, Phichit as insurance to make sure that I didn’t just take off with you, and Seung Gil because he’s the one cold enough to kill me if I did.”

So Yuuri knew about Cialdini’s doubts. That would make this more interesting. Seung Gil shook his head. “Actually, Celestino wants you alive if possible. Killing’s a last resort.”

“And your captain knows what he has in his people, then?” Viktor looked away from Phichit. “Good man.”


	5. Chapter 5

All the way back, Phichit managed to shove aside his own fears to keep an eye on the new guys. It looked to him like Cialdini had a lot to worry about there. Nikiforov and Makkachin were taking full advantage of just how obvious Yuuri was being about his crush, talking to him and asking all kinds of questions about the ship. Like Phichit when he first arrived, Nikiforov was keeping his questions unsuspicious, asking mostly about Cialdini’s style and people and routines on the ship, but it didn’t take much imagination to figure out how it could be used to mutiny.

Emil, unsurprisingly, had latched onto Mila, who turned out to be a very pretty girl. He spent most of the trip telling her about Michele and Sara, promising to introduce the two women as soon as possible. Georgi and Yuri kept to themselves. Georgi barely even looked up, hands in his pockets as he followed Seung Gil. Yuri’s entire body was so tense that Phichit was a bit scared to approach him – Yuri might well take a swing at him.

Yuuri shared Phichit’s fear, and said as much to Nikiforov. “Oh, don’t worry about Yuri, he’s just like that. Yakov said he was the only baby he’d ever seen born scowling! He won’t hurt anyone, not seriously, and he’s perfectly capable of holding his own in a brawl.”

“Shut up, old man,” Yuri snarled.

“Whatever you say, kitten.” Viktor ruffled Yuri’s hair and went back to talking to Yuuri.

Phichit took the opportunity to approach Yuri. “I take it you like cats?”

“Yeah. So what?”

“So our ship’s quartermaster has a beautiful cat I’m sure he’d let you play with. If you want.”

Yuri’s scowl lightened just a little bit. “Good to know. Thanks.”

 

Back at the ship, Cialdini met the boat as it was hauled up. His face lit up and he crouched to hold a hand out as soon as he saw Makkachin, who hopped out of the boat to come say hello. “Welcome aboard. All of you.”

“Thank you!” Nikiforov quickly introduced his crew. “All of us very much appreciate your generosity in coming to get us. Please consider us at your disposal if you could use some extra hands around here.”

“We’ll see. For now, Yuuri, help Viktor settle in and show him around. Emil, take the others to settle in. Seung Gil, let Leo and Chris know four more people and one dog have come aboard so they can be ready. Phichit, come with me.”

The fear he’d been fighting off crept back in as Phichit followed Cialdini. He had to do this, but it would change the way the captain saw him, likely result in losing his trust. This was the best way to avoid that, but it was scary. “There’s something I need to tell you,” he said as soon as the door closed.

“Related to Nikiforov, or not?”

“Kind of, if you look at it sideways.”

“Okay.” Cialdini poured himself a glass of wine and settled in, sitting on his desk. “Tell me what you think about Nikiforov and his crew first, then we’ll come back to it.”

Fair enough. “Four people aren’t going to be enough to take the ship, and I don’t see Yuri being much help in flipping enough of ours to make it possible. I’m sure Nikiforov knows this. He says he doesn’t want to be a captain, because he doesn’t want the responsibility, but if he’s trying to lull us into a false sense of security that plays into it well. He seems genuinely interested in Yuuri, which is definitely trouble. I couldn’t get much of a read on Georgi, he's kind of withdrawn but I don't know that he's always like that. You’ll want to ask Emil about Mila.”

“Gut feeling?”

“If we have trouble, it’ll be right before we make port to drop them off. They’ll want as much time as they can get to make friends and organize everything. Don’t trust Yuuri if he tries to reassure you that they’re not going to cause trouble.” It certainly wasn't the best of reports, but it also wasn't anything Cialdini wouldn't expect to hear.

“Sounds good. I’ll keep an eye on things, and check in with you when we get close.” Cialdini refilled his glass, and this time, he poured one for Phichit, too. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

Phichit took a sip of wine. “I’m sure you noticed I haven’t been entirely honest with you.”

“Depends on your definition of honest, I suppose.” Phichit blinked, and Cialdini smiled at him. “I know you haven’t been entirely forthcoming, but every pirate has their secrets, and I haven’t caught you in a lie yet. Whatever this is, I’m sure you had a good reason for it.”

“Uh, yeah…” Phichit took a bigger sip of wine, hoping Cialdini wouldn’t notice the way his hands were shaking. “Why do you trust me so much, anyway?”

“I’ve made it this far by trusting my brain, my heart, and my gut. All three of them are telling me that you deserve my trust. I’m not stupid, I’ve got plans for if you do choose to betray me, but life gets lonely if you never let yourself trust anyone.” Cialdini chuckled softly. “I will admit, part of it is timing. If Nikiforov weren’t involved and I could trust Yuuri, I’d probably be a lot slower to trust you.”

“Huh. Well…” Phichit stared down at the wine. “There is something I haven’t told you that you really should know.”

“Is it your real name?” Phichit didn’t answer right away, and Cialdini raised an eyebrow. “Really? You lied about that?”

“Not exactly? Phichit is my real name, I just… didn’t tell you my last name with it.” Phichit looked up and met Cialdini’s eyes. “Chulanont.”

“Chulanont.” Cialdini’s other eyebrow shot up. “As in Thailand’s royal family?”

“Yes.” He hoped Cialdini would understand why he didn't exactly volunteer that information, but there was always the question of what he'd do with it. Things could go bad in a lot of different ways.

“Huh.” There was an awkward silence. “Just how close are you to the king?”

“He’s my dad.” Phichit held his breath, waiting for Cialdini to process that.

“Your dad.”

“Yeah." Phichit hesitated, then decided Cialdini probably had the right to an explanation. "I was the second son and I never got along with either my dad or my older brother, I have younger brothers, so when I said I wanted to go to sea, they were all too happy to put me on a ship that was bound for the Caribbean. I’ve been away two years, if they hear anything about the shipwreck Dad’s more likely to assume I went down with it than to send people out looking.”

“But your dad would still pay quite the ransom if someone showed up with you captive, so you hid that. I can’t blame you for that. Why tell me now, though? Why trust me not to take you home?” Celestino frowned. “And what’s this got to do with Nikiforov?”

“I think Nikiforov recognized me. Maybe not personally, but as a Chulanont.” Cialdini nodded. “If I was gonna have a chance at not getting killed, dragged home, or kicked off your ship, you needed to hear it from me, not him.”

“Not necessarily. As long as it was him recognizing you and not you trusting him but not me, I can understand why you kept the secret.” Celestino set down his wine glass and stood up to put his hands on Phichit’s shoulders. “I’ll have a word with Nikiforov first chance I get, make sure he understands that other than me and you no one else knows and if I find out they do I’m going to assume he’s the one who can’t keep a secret. If you’re wrong, if your family does come looking, we’ll cross that strait when we come to it, but as long as I’m in charge no one’s taking you home unless you want to go.”

“Thank you. And hey – now you’ve got an actual reason to trust me, right?”

“Ha! That’s true, isn’t it.” He pulled Phichit into a hug. “Okay, go get back to work. Nothing too strenuous, I wouldn’t want you to aggravate your injury.”

Phichit couldn’t stop the giggle from escaping. “How’s your arm?”

“It hurts, but it’s not infected. Beka knows what he’s doing.” Cialdini let go of Phichit. “Go on.”


	6. Chapter 6

At dinner, Phichit kept his eyes open for Nikiforov’s people. Mila sitting with Emil, Michele, and Sara was no surprise at all. She seemed to be getting along with Sara very well. Potential trouble there. Yuri had found a corner to hide in, and Phichit watched as Otabek headed that way with his food. Unexpected – and even more surprising, Yuri didn’t chase him away. Georgi was also sitting by himself, keeping his eyes on his plate and ignoring everything around him. Kenjirou and Guang Hong had tried talking to him, but hadn’t gotten much out of him.

Chris came over to sit beside Phichit. “What do you think of the new guys?”

“Bit worried about Georgi. Any idea what his deal is?”

“Just a guess, but he has the look of someone dealing with heartbreak. I would guess he had a lover who drowned with the old ship. I’m gonna ask Viktor at some point, but Yuuri’s been hogging him all day.” Chris pouted. “You’d think he’d want to come say hello to an old friend, at least.”

Phichit's ears perked up. This was news. “Old friend? You know Nikiforov?”

“I sailed with Yakov’s crew for years. I left on good terms with most of them, Viktor included, when I was injured badly enough to need to stay on shore for a few months. Yuri and Mila weren’t with them then, but Georgi was.”

Phichit wondered if Cialdini knew about this. If he were Chris, he wouldn't have said anything, especially when the news came in that their ship had gone down. “How come you’re not over there trying to talk to him?”

“Because Georgi was always a moody one. He gets like this, he won’t talk to anyone unless he has to. If he’s ready to talk before we drop them off, great, if not, I’ll make sure to say hello to him before he leaves but won’t expect much.”

Speaking of leaving, Chris could be a good source of information about Nikiforov. He might be able to predict what would happen. “Hey, when we were picking them up, Nikiforov said that he doesn’t want to be a captain. Do you believe that?”

Chris burst into laughter. “Absolutely. I’m surprised he accepted the first mate job. He likes not having responsibility, and if he’s serving under a captain who can handle him being the way he is, he’s happy. Lots of people don’t want to be a captain and have to deal with managing a crew, why so surprised?”

“He’s just so famous and everything, I kind of thought his ego might cause problems for someone trying to give him orders. He wouldn’t have that problem as a captain.”

“He wasn’t exactly the most obedient of sailors, that’s true, but Yakov thought of him as a son. It would be interesting to see what happens when Viktor finds a new captain to sail with. Especially if he decides he wants to stay here.”

“You think he’d try?” Somehow, Phichit couldn't see Cialdini going for that, but then again... if it kept Yuuri around...

“It’s possible, if he decides he really likes Yuuri and it’s not just a temporary charm. Not sure Celestino would take him on, though. He’s too big a fan of people following orders.” Chris winked at Phichit. “I’ve never seen him take so quickly to a new crewman as he did to you! Is there a secret to it, or just you being you? Everyone else loves you, too, so…”

“Just me being me. I think he realized how good I am for morale, since everyone loves me?” Phichit quipped.

Chris shook his head thoughtfully. “No, I’m sure there’s more to it. He likes you. A lot. Don’t screw that up, okay?”

“I won’t.” Phichit hoped the heat in his face wasn't showing. The last thing he needed was for people to start teasing him about having a crush.

 

For the first night in a while, Phichit didn’t dream of Thailand. In his dreams, he was on the ship. Everything was quiet, everything was humming along like it should be, Phichit was nice and warm and happy. That was likely because he was wrapped up in the captain’s arms, watching the waves from above. It certainly wasn’t because of his clothes, because there weren’t any. For him or the captain. Aside from that, things were comfortable and made sense, but that was a pretty big exception. At least in the dream he was still aware of how weird it was.

Things were just starting to get really interesting when JJ shook him awake. “Come on, new guy, captain needs us all on deck. There’s a storm coming.”

“Why am I still new guy even though we’ve got four people and a dog newer than me on board?” Phichit swung himself out of the bunk, though. If this was a trick, he was going to take a swing at JJ. Messing with him about a storm? That was just cruel.

Luckily for JJ, he hadn’t been lying. There really was a storm blowing up, and Cialdini was shouting orders to coordinate everyone. Phichit thought he saw some surprise when Cialdini saw him, but all he said was sending Phichit to help get the storm sails up. Phichit found Guang Hong and Leo and joined their efforts. For all Guang Hong was small, he’d been at sea since he was barely more than a baby and knew what he was doing. He helped Leo and Phichit keep calm and focused. Thanks to his cheer and advice, Phichit was able to shove aside the bad memories and the fear. It was so much easier this way, on deck and doing something useful, than it had been on his old ship where he was shoved into the hold and told to stay there, safe and out of the way.

A couple hours in, Yuuri came by. “You guys okay? Anyone need to take a break? Leo, need me to take over so you can get to the galley?”

“No, I’m good,” Leo said. “No way I could cook anything in this, and even if I could, no one would be able to hold it down.”

“Phichit, Guang Hong, either of you need anything?”

“Think you can make this storm go back to wherever it blew out of?” Phichit joked. He was rewarded by a snort from Yuuri. “Everyone else okay?”

“So far, seems like. If you guys are good, I’m gonna keep checking on others!” Yuuri took off.

Once he was gone, Leo whistled to Phichit. “By everyone else you mean Nikiforov, right?”

“I meant everyone! Is a storm really the time for gossip?”

“When better? We may not get another chance!” Guang Hong shouted. “You sure there wasn’t anyone in particular you wanted to ask about? Chris? Celestino? Makkachin? Seung Gil?”

“All of the above! Plus everyone else on this ship!” Phichit shoved the distraction aside as a gust of wind hit, rocking the boat dangerously. He grabbed onto the mast to stay upright.

Another hour passed with Phichit helping to keep the ship upright when Cialdini came by. “Thanks for taking care of everything. We’re almost out, so just hang in there a little longer.” He put a hand on Phichit’s shoulder and spoke quietly, so that Phichit had trouble hearing him. “Phichit, are you okay?”

“Huh? Why wouldn’t I be?”

Cialdini squeezed his shoulder. “You’ve been through a shipwreck recently. Just want to be sure you’re okay.”

“Oh.” The warmth from the embarrassment was welcome, considering the cold, but he was still embarrassed. This was not going to help him deal with whatever was going on in his dreams. “I’m fine. I promise.”

“Good to hear.” Cialdini headed off to check on another group, and Phichit focused on his work.

When they got clear of the storm, Phichit joined most of the others in the galley for a celebratory mug of grog, and then went back to bed. To his relief, his dreams went back to Thailand and his family. The relief was short-lived, though, as Cialdini showed up there.


	7. Chapter 7

For the next couple days, Phichit did his best to avoid Cialdini. It was the best way he could think of to deal with the embarrassing crush. He wouldn’t be able to avoid him forever – if nothing else, Cialdini would probably want to check in when they got close to port to drop Nikiforov and his crew off – but hopefully he could keep it up long enough to get this worked out.

One evening, he was hanging out with Seung Gil when Yuuri came over. “Seung Gil, I need to talk to Phichit. Alone.”

Seung Gil got to his feet. “Uh-oh. Do I need to alert Otabek? Because Yuri just might kill me if I interrupt another try at Otabek teaching him to play chess.”

“No, if I needed Otabek on standby I’d have done it myself, Yuri doesn’t scare me.” Yuuri plopped down beside Phichit. “I really do mean just talk, but I don’t want witnesses.”

“Okay.” Seung Gil left, and Phichit watched as he warned away anyone who might be heading their way.

“You know, Celestino’s a reasonable guy. If you’ve got a problem with him, he’s good about listening.” Yuuri winked. “He won’t always agree with you or do anything to change things, but he’ll at least hear you out.”

“Okay?” Phichit stared at Yuuri. “I’ll… keep that in mind if I ever have a problem with him?”

“Don’t you? He says you’re avoiding him and he has no idea why. If you’d rather talk to me, that’s fine too, I know Celestino can be kind of intimidating.”

He'd really rather not talk to anyone. No one else needed to know about this. “Where’s Nikiforov? You two have been practically glued together since he got here.”

Yuuri scowled and stared out at the ocean. “He’s spending some time with Chris. Don’t change the subject.”

“Oh, that makes sense, Chris was saying the other day how much he’d been looking forward to hanging out with him again. They’re old friends, you know.”

“Yeah, I know, and we’re not talking about them. We’re talking about you and why you’re avoiding Celestino.”

Yuuri's vehemence threw Phichit. So Viktor was spending time with an old friend. Why would Yuuri be upset about that? “Does it really matter? I don’t have a problem with him, if he needs me for something I’m not that hard to find, honestly I’m surprised he even cares. He’s got way more important things to think about.”

“Apparently, he disagrees. I don’t know what’s going on, but he’s bothered by you avoiding him. You can talk to Celestino or you can talk to me, but I’m not letting this go.”

Phichit sighed. Talking to the captain about this was not an option. “I’m trying to work some stuff out before things get too awkward. Captain Cialdini hasn’t done anything wrong.”

He could see the second Yuuri figured out what was happening, as he lit up and started laughing at him. “Sounds like you might need to spend some time with Chris. Okay. I’ll figure out something to tell Celestino so he doesn’t push you for answers himself. Good luck.”

“Thanks. Why do I need to spend some time with Chris? He’s an awesome guy and all, but I’m not seeing the relevance.” Unless there was no relevance and Yuuri was just suggesting Phichit hang out with Chris to get Nikiforov back, of course.

“Really? Huh. Most people who come on board figure out that Chris has an unofficial job on the ship within a week. You’ve been kind of distracted, I guess, but I’m still surprised Chris hasn’t told you.” Phichit shook his head, staring blankly at Yuuri. “If you need to get laid and don’t want to worry about strings or finding someone, go to Chris. I’ve never known him to say no to anyone, unless it was a temporary ‘this is a bad time’ thing.”

“Oh.” Now he could see the relevance. Maybe it would help. He drew his knees up to his chest. “Wait, you think Nikiforov’s…”

“I told you, we are not talking about whatever Viktor’s doing or not doing with Chris,” Yuuri snapped. “It’s like you said, they’re old friends, why wouldn’t Viktor want to spend some time with him? It’s not like he’s planning on sticking around much longer.”

“Are you gonna go with him when he leaves?” If he left. Right now, Phichit had no clue which way he was going to go. The odds were still against him for a mutiny, but that didn't mean he wouldn't try.

“Even if Celestino would let me go, why would Viktor want to take me? He can have his pick of crew, he can do way better than me.”

“I don’t think so, and neither does Captain Cialdini. I think he’d let you go. Like you said, he’s reasonable, and wasn’t Nikiforov why you became a pirate in the first place? He wouldn’t deny you the chance to sail with him, if you want it.”

Yuuri sighed and stared off to sea. “He’s even better in person. At least you have hope that you can get over yours. I’m not going to.”

“Heh. Or you could listen to those of us who aren’t you and realize that Viktor likes you a lot. If he hasn’t yet, I bet he will ask you to come with him when he leaves.”

“Then wouldn’t he have talked to me about it before now? That’s really not the kind of thing you go springing on someone last minute, is it?”

“Maybe he’s worried about it causing trouble with the captain. If he doesn’t want trouble, leaving it for the last minute would seem like the best way for that.”

“Yeah. Maybe.” Yuuri shook his head. “You know… I’ve been sailing with Celestino for years. I’ve never seen him bothered like this. It’s possible the feels the same way. I can’t think of a better explanation for why he’d be like this.”

“Just… don’t, okay?” Phichit was not going to let himself think like that. No sense in it. If Celestino did like him that way, he’d say something. Captain’s prerogative. “Don’t tell him anything, don’t try to make me feel better, I’ll start acting normally, just forget I said anything. Please?”

“Okay, fine, it’s your thing anyway.” Yuuri hugged Phichit. “Don’t be surprised if Leo figures it out, he’s like a bloodhound for secrets and gossip. Everyone’s a little distracted right now, so good timing.”

“Distracted? What happened?”

“Nothing yet, but with Viktor and his crew aboard, there's too much gossip about everyone else to pay attention to you. No offense."

"None taken. What's the gossip?"

"There’s a betting pool on how much longer until Otabek ‘hospitalizes’ Yuri.” Phichit snorted at the euphemism. “And then Emil and Mila have been seen plotting something together. No idea when they’re going to strike, but I’m pretty sure it involves the Crispinos.”

“That should be fun. How long until we hit port?”

“Two days, three if the weather doesn’t cooperate. Possibly four if Celestino decides to stall. I know he’s worried about Viktor, but he really doesn’t need to be. Viktor doesn’t want to challenge him for captain.”

“That’s what Chris says, but… you’ll forgive the skepticism, I hope.”


	8. Chapter 8

Phichit hadn’t had any luck shaking the crush or the dreams, although he did manage to start hanging out with Celestino normally again. Phichit hadn’t sought out Chris, but he was seriously thinking about it when Celestino came to find him. “You’re off duty?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Come with me.”

“Okay…” Phichit’s stomach fluttered as Celestino led the way to his quarters. This could get very awkward very fast if he wasn’t careful. “What’s going on, Captain?”

“You know, you can call me Celestino. Everyone else does.”

Everyone else wasn’t fighting a stupid crush. “Sure, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good.” Celestino closed the door and stripped off his coat and shirt. “Ever removed stitches before?”

Part of him wondered if he'd fallen asleep while thinking and this was a dream. Phichit looked at the cut on the arm - it looked a lot better, but he was no medical expert. “No… I don’t know how. You really think my parents would let me do something like that?”

Celestino laughed softly. “It’s not that hard, really. Cut the stitch and pull. Not hard, but firm and steady.”

“Shouldn’t Otabek be doing this?” For one thing, he'd know what to do if the stitches weren't actually ready to come out, and for another, he'd probably be less distracted.

“I would ask him, but he’s in the middle of a chess match, and I wanted to talk to you anyway.”

“Oh. What about?”

“We’ll make port tomorrow afternoon. Nikiforov’s asked for a meeting tomorrow morning. I want you here, but hidden, in case he tries something.”

Phichit nodded. He could do that. “No problem. Got a plan for getting me here without anyone noticing?”

“A couple ideas. What do you think, if Nikiforov mutinies, who goes with him?”

“Chris, probably. Assuming none of Nikiforov’s guys flip on him, there’s no way Otabek doesn’t flip, he's too gone on that Yuri.”

“Which is one reason I didn’t interrupt the chess match. I doubt he’s forgotten about the injury, but he won’t know it’s healed enough to have the stitches out. Speaking of…” Celestino held out the knife. “I can do it myself, but it’s a lot easier if you do it because you have a much better view.”

Tell him about it. Although that probably wasn’t what Celestino meant. Phichit took the knife and hesitantly cut the first stitch as close to the knot as he could. He heard the sharp hiss when he tugged on the fiber, but it came right out, and the wound stayed closed. “Sara, probably, which means we lose Michele and Emil as soon as they see that. I’m not as sure about this one, but JJ and Georgi have been talking a lot. I wouldn’t be surprised if JJ goes over.”

“JJ won’t flip." Celestino's certainty surprised Phichit, but then again, he wouldn't have told Phichit everything. Just in case. "What about Leo? If Leo flips…”

“I don’t think Leo will. Which could put Guang Hong in a pickle, because if Yuuri flips, Kenjirou goes with him.”

Celestino hummed. “Thoughts on Yuuri?”

“He’s in love. If Nikiforov asks, Yuuri’s gone. The thing is, Nikiforov hasn’t asked, and Yuuri doesn’t believe he will. Make him make a split-second decision, I think he might stay on your side as long as he doesn’t have to be the one to fight Nikiforov himself.”

Celestino nodded thoughtfully. “If Guang Hong does flip, Leo would probably go with him. That’s a lot of the crew. Not enough to take the ship, just on numbers, but a lot. If Nikiforov takes me out first thing at the meeting, the ship would be his. Promise me something?”

“What?”

“If Nikiforov has a surprise for us and I go down too quickly for you to do anything, flip. Nikiforov will buy it, you and Yuuri are good friends, you’d be safe. Don’t get yourself killed trying to avenge me.”

Phichit paused in pulling out the current stitch, trying to figure out what the hell to say to that. Eventually, he decided to go with his default and crack a joke. “What makes you think I’d try to avenge you?”

Celestino didn’t laugh. “Seung Gil and Leo will go with you, Yuuri won’t be torn, at that point the rest of the crew will surrender. Nikiforov can have the ship and be the captain or give the job to Yuuri and be first mate if that’s really all he wants, most of the people who would have fought for me are practical enough to give the new captain whatever loyalty promise he demands, so as much of my crew gets saved as possible, and you’re still alive. Promise me.”

“All right, I promise.” Phichit’s hand shook a little as he cut the next stitch. He was not looking forward to tomorrow, not if it meant some of his friends would die. “Why…”

A knock on the door interrupted Phichit’s attempt to ask why Celestino cared so much whether he lived or died. Celestino quickly shoved Phichit behind a curtain and put his coat on before opening the door. “What? I know I left orders not to be disturbed.”

“Unless I thought you needed a report immediately,” JJ’s voice answered. “Nikiforov’s holding a meeting with his people, and whatever they’re doing, it’s in whispers so I couldn’t hear anything.”

“Of course he’s holding a meeting with his people, we make port tomorrow. I’m not stupid, JJ.”

“I know, and if it were just the four – five, sorry, Makkachin was there – the five of them, I wouldn’t be here bothering you with it. I just thought you should know Yuuri’s in the meeting with them.”

…Oh. That was a game changer, all right. Celestino didn’t sound at all surprised, though. “Thanks. Anyone else from the crew?”

“Not unless you count Chris’s cat, who probably isn’t being much use to them other than keeping Nikiforov’s kitten calm. There is one other thing, though, Chris has had Guang Hong and Kenjirou looking for Phichit for the last half hour and no one can find him. He’s not at Nikiforov’s meeting, I can tell you that much.”

“All right. Thanks for the report. Get back out there.” Celestino closed the door and came back to sit in his chair. “Phichit? Any idea why Chris is looking for you?”

“I, um…” Phichit swallowed hard. He couldn’t tell the truth, but he didn’t have a good lie coming to mind at all. “We’re friends, maybe he wants to share some gossip? I don’t know.” He reached for Celestino’s arm to cut the last stitch.

Celestino jerked away from him, getting to his feet. “Dammit, Phichit. There better be a really good reason you’re lying to me _now_ of all times.”

Phichit’s confusion mixed with anger, and he clenched the knife. “If you know why Chris is looking for me, why the hell did you bother to ask?”

“I _don’t_ know!” Celestino exploded. “I just know when I’m being lied to that badly! You said yourself if this meeting is something other than a thank you for your hospitality, can I steal your first mate to come with me affair, Chris is one of the ones almost certain to flip, and now he’s looking for you and has friends helping?”

Phichit’s heart plummeted. Put that way, of course Celestino was furious. Everything was ruined anyway. He stared at the knife in his hand as if it were the most fascinating object in the world. “When I got off-duty this afternoon, Guang Hong asked me about my plans for the evening, and I mentioned that I might try to see if Chris had some time for me. If someone told Chris about that, he’s probably looking for me to talk about it.”

“That really doesn’t really help matters much, you know!”

Phichit looked up from the knife, eyes flashing. “You just made me promise to flip if you go down quickly! What’s so bad about me making my own contingency plans?”

“Is this what this is? Contingency plans? Contingency plans that you felt you had to keep secret from me, which would certainly seem to indicate that you might turn on me even if I don’t go down?”

“No, this wasn’t contingency plans, if I decided to go through with it there wasn’t going to be much talking at all,” Phichit admitted. “Go through with meeting with Chris, not with turning on you. Until you made me promise, my plans for a mutiny were fight for you until you won or I died. Meeting with Chris was something completely different.”

“What was it, then?”

Phichit hesitated, but Celestino didn’t move a muscle. “Yuuri told me about Chris’s unofficial morale services, and I’ve been thinking about giving it a try ever since. I still hadn’t made up my mind when you came to get me for your arm.”

“And you couldn’t just come out and say that you were looking to get laid?” Celestino came and sat back down, wounded arm toward Phichit. “Almost everyone on this ship’s ended up going to Chris at some point or other, only surprise there would be that I have no idea how Thailand’s royal family treats sex, or if you still care about their rules given how long you’ve been away.”

“Basic rule is ‘don’t get caught with someone you’re not married to’, and since you and Nikiforov are the only ones here who know who I am, even if I do get caught there’s not anyone to care what I do.”

“At least, not from the perspective of behaving properly royal,” Celestino muttered as Phichit pulled the last stitch out. He looked down at his arm. “Nice. It’s even more healed than I thought it was.”

“Good.” Phichit swallowed hard and handed Celestino back the knife. “So… you said you had some ideas for how to get me here without anyone knowing about it?”

“Yeah. My personal favorite, no one knows you’re up here now, it would seem, so you could just stay here overnight and be in position when Yuuri brings Nikiforov up. It does mean you miss out on your chance to go to Chris tonight.”

“Plus with everyone wondering where I am, someone might start putting things together,” Phichit said. He couldn’t spend the night here, could he? There was only the one bed, for one thing, and how was he supposed to sleep this close to Celestino?

“True…” Celestino drummed his fingers on his leg. “You could go out, let yourself be found, and then sneak back up here. Have to figure out a signal so I’d know it’s you and not someone who I don’t want interrupting my quiet time, but we’ll have to do that anyway. Or…” Celestino got up and grabbed his coat, digging into a pocket. “Take the key with you. I’m not planning on going anywhere.” He pressed the key into Phichit’s hand. “If you really want to, you could probably go see Chris… does it have to be Chris? Is there something about Chris specifically, or are you just wanting some sex?”

“Well, from what Yuuri made it sound like, Chris doesn’t say no very often,” Phichit stammered. “I’m a long way from home and the spoiled prince I could have been, but rejection’s still not easy to take.”

“So if someone else were to promise not to say no, they would be another option?”

“…I guess?” Although he didn't see why it mattered to Celestino. Was it because he thought Chris was going to turn on him?

“Then come back here. If you decide you want sex tonight, I’ll take care of you.”

Phichit froze, hand closed around the key in his pocket. Right now, he really wished he could talk to Yuuri about this. Maybe he still could, if he was very careful about it. “I’ll keep that in mind, thanks. I’d better go let myself be found.” He would never admit to fleeing, but that’s exactly what happened.


	9. Chapter 9

Fortunately, it didn’t take Phichit long to find Yuuri. Or to let Yuuri find him, more accurately. He ran to Phichit and hugged him. “Phichit! Where have you been?”

Phichit waved. “Hiding. I had something I needed to get my head around. Honestly, I’m still not there, but I have reached one conclusion. I can’t figure this one out on my own. Could use your advice.”

“Okay. Where to?”

“Just over here. It’s not where I was hiding before but I may need to hide again someday and I’d rather not give away my spots, you know?” Phichit winked at Yuuri, who laughed and followed him behind a stack of crates. “This turned out to be a very weird evening.”

“How so?”

Phichit took a deep breath and let it out quickly. “Celestino offered to sleep with me.”

Yuuri blinked. Then blinked again. “Okay, so this is you… what, were you a virgin or something, and you're having post-first time weirdness? Because I refuse to believe Celestino hurt you. Even if you're into that kind of thing, he wouldn’t do it tonight. Too paranoid about Viktor.”

“Yuuri, I didn’t sleep with him.” Yet. Although he couldn't blame Yuuri for jumping to that conclusion.

Once again, there was a beat, and then Yuuri reached up and smacked Phichit on the back of the head. “What the fuck are you waiting for, you moron? You’re getting what you want and you’re hiding and freaking out instead of jumping on the golden opportunity when it offers itself up like that?!”

Phichit flinched. “I take it Nikiforov didn’t offer anything before he leaves tomorrow?”

“Nope. Not even a hug. So I hope you understand, at least one of us can be happy here, do not screw this up for both of us!”

“I don’t know if I can,” Phichit whispered. “Not with him. Not a meaningless ‘tomorrow we might all die’ thing for him.”

Yuuri took a long breath, and then pushed Phichit to sit on a crate that stuck out from the bottom of the stack. “Phichit, listen to me very closely. I’ve been sailing with Celestino for years. I was here when Chris came aboard, I’ve been here while Chris established himself as what he is, and not counting you or Nikiforov’s crew because you guys haven’t been here very long, I think there are four people on this ship who haven’t slept with him. Sara, because Mickey won’t let her, Mickey, because he’s too busy keeping an eye on Sara, me, because he’s not Viktor, and Celestino. At first, I thought it was just he’s one of those captains who doesn’t believe in fraternizing with crew – he used to be military, you know.” No, Phichit hadn’t known, but he also didn’t see the point here. “When he made me first mate, I asked if that policy applied to me, and he told me it wasn’t his policy, if he wanted to sleep with a crewmember he’d do it, he just never expected to. I hadn’t noticed before, but when we’re in port, he spends every night on the ship. Alone. He told me he’s not interested in meaningless sex, and I can tell you that I’ve faced death at his side before and he’s never cared about the whole last-night-alive possibility. Doesn’t blame his crew for going with that, but he won’t.”

Phichit stared at Yuuri. If Celestino didn’t do meaningless sex but also didn’t care what his crew did, then tonight made even less sense than it had before he started talking to Yuuri. This was the opposite of what was supposed to happen. “You lost me somewhere.”

Yuuri shook his head. “Phichit, I love you, but you can be so dense you shouldn’t be allowed on the sea sometimes. Celestino likes you. I don’t know why he didn’t say anything about that, why he let you believe this was meaningless for him, he knows how you feel.”

“He does?!” Shit. Although knowing that certainly made sense of Celestino’s reaction to Phichit thinking about sleeping with Chris. “How?”

Yuuri’s smile had no business looking that evil. “I kept a close eye on you two and I was convinced that my guess for why he was so upset about you avoiding him was right, so I asked him about it. Had a feeling you two could use a push to get over your fear, although I don’t know why he’s scared to say anything to you. You’re, like, the least scary person on this ship to develop feelings for.”

There were two ways this could go. One, Yuuri was telling the truth. Celestino felt the same way about him, and he didn’t need to worry about rejection or causing problems with Celestino. If he went up there now, apologized profusely, and explained what had happened earlier, it was possible that he could fix all the damage he’d done. Two, Yuuri was lying. Yuuri knew Phichit’s feelings were real, and setting up this kind of betrayal could cause a rift between Celestino and Phichit, isolating him that much further. It wasn't hard to see how Nikiforov could exploit that. “Thanks, I guess. I’m an idiot, aren’t I.”

Yuuri ruffled Phichit's hair. “Yeah, but that’s okay, you’re cute, you can get away with it. Go check in with Chris and then go explain to Celestino that you’re an idiot, okay?”

 

Chris was very happy to see Phichit, wrapping him up in a hug. “Everything okay? I heard you were wanting to hang out with me, did you need a sympathetic ear or a voice of reason or a completely different body part?”

“I’m fine, I was thinking about coming to see you but I still haven’t decided what exactly I want,” Phichit lied. “When I figure it out, I’ll come find you. Okay?”

“Sure. If you need some help with that, I’m willing to listen and offer advice. Your call.”

“Thanks, but for right now, I’d just rather keep it to myself, okay? When I’m ready to talk…”

“I’ll be here. Don’t worry.”

Phichit wasn't so sure, but then again, it really wasn't Chris he needed to talk to. He could let it go. “All right. Good night.”


	10. Chapter 10

There wasn’t going to be time to hesitate outside the captain’s door, not if he didn't want to be spotted, so Phichit found a place to hide while he talked himself out of diving overboard or just going down to his usual bunk. If there was any hope of salvaging things, he needed to go face the problem head-on. Which was worse: facing Celestino now, or never being able to face him again? “You cannot possibly make things any worse than you already have, so just go in there and try to fix this mess.” It worked, and after making sure no one was watching, Phichit slipped across the deck and let himself in.

He’d expected to find Celestino mad at him, or burying himself in work. He'd thought maybe Celestino might have just gone to bed. He had not expected to find Celestino sprawled half-sitting on his bed with a half-empty bottle of rum, but that's what he was confronted with once he'd closed the door behind him. “Celestino?”

“Huh, that was quick.” Celestino pulled himself a little more upright. “Chris busy?”

“No, Chris was fine, I just…” Phichit bit his tongue. There were more pressing issues than Chris right now, starting with the bottle in Celestino's hand. “Since when do you drink rum?”

“I’m dead tomorrow, so what the hell, right?” Celestino held the bottle up in a salute before taking another drink from it. “Can’t believe, all the stuff I’ve survived, all the betrayal I’ve been prepared for and come out from, this is what got me. Gotta hand it to Yuuri, I never saw this coming.”

Phichit went over and caught Celestino’s arm as he started to lift the bottle again, taking the rum away from him and putting it out of Celestino’s reach. “You’re not dead yet and I don’t think you’re going to be. Yuuri hasn’t betrayed you yet. It might happen, but it hasn’t yet.”

“It’s going to. He lied to me about something he knew would cause problems with you and hurt me, and he wouldn’t do that if he weren’t setting me up to betray me.” Celestino tried to lunge for the bottle, but Phichit backed up enough that he missed.

Phichit found a safe place to put the bottle before turning back to Celestino. “If you’re talking about him telling you I have feelings for you, he wasn’t lying. That was absolutely truth.”

“Then why Chris? Why not me?” Celestino pouted.

Phichit walked over to the bed and sat beside Celestino, hesitantly reaching out to pet his hair. Celestino closed his eyes, but the smile convinced Phichit that Yuuri was right. “I haven’t been a pirate very long, remember. Where I’m from, captains don’t get involved with their crew. If they want a lover on their ship, they bring someone specifically for that. A pirate ship isn’t going to tolerate a captain’s pet and I hate being useless anyway, so I figured nothing was ever gonna happen.”

“A pirate ship with a captain who doesn’t have a way to get laid if they want to isn’t going to last long either. Most of us, the only rules we care about are the ones we make, and I’m happy to fight anyone who has a problem with me having a lover on the crew.”

“That’s what Yuuri said. He’s the one who found me and I told him I was hiding because you’d offered to sleep with me and I freaked out. That rumor’s probably going to get around the ship, but…”

Celestino snorted. “Not like it’s not true. You couldn’t get out of here fast enough.”

“I didn’t know you felt that way about me. I’ve never known you to be afraid to speak your mind before, so I assumed that if you did, you’d have said something. Done something. Why didn’t you?”

“I know you left that life, but you are a prince." Phichit let his head fall back against the headboard with a thump. Now that Celestino said it, it was so obvious. Stupid, but obvious. "Where I’m from, princes don’t get involved with people like me.”

“What, a ship’s captain?” Phichit couldn't imagine his dad having a problem with that. The pirate thing might be a problem, but who knew, maybe not. It's not like Phichit expected to stay his older brother's heir much longer, if he even still was.

“A _pirate_ captain, a military deserter, an orphan of no particular family who stowed away on a naval ship to get off the streets of Venice… take your pick." Fair enough, Phichit had to admit, although none of that mattered to him. "And before I knew about that, you were still so new, although now I wish I had asked you to stay the first time I thought about it.”

“When was that?”

“The night you cut my arm. First time in a long time I’d ever wanted someone like that, and I didn’t trust it. Or you, for that matter, not like I did after you came clean about your past. Not like I still do, even after all this.”

Phichit snuggled up against Celestino’s chest. He was just as warm as he’d always been in Phichit’s dreams. "From what Yuuri said, it sounds like you don't get like this often. Why me? After the prince thing came out, I can see that, but before?"

"That first night, mostly curiosity I think. It's not often that I meet people who have the courage to take me at my word and fight me properly, but you did. Caught me off-guard enough to hurt me. Knowing you're a prince certainly explains where you learned to use a sword like that, but at the time, it was just another mystery. I was intrigued, and it just... that's why I didn't trust it, once I'd solved or forgotten the mystery, I figured wanting you would go away too. It didn't."

"Well, that's good. I'd hate to have it go away now."

Celestino laughed. "So why today, do you think? Why would Yuuri intervene today?"

"I don’t know. Yuuri’s hoping this will distract you? He’s trying to give you one last thank you for everything before he stabs you in the back?" Another laugh from Celestino. "Maybe he’s really not going to turn on us even if Nikiforov does start something, or he honestly believes Nikiforov won’t start anything. I don't know, but I don’t care, either. He didn’t lie to either of us. Speaking of, I’m sorry about lying earlier, I swear the only thing I was hiding was my feelings for you, you have no reason to be jealous of Chris. I won’t be going to him.”

“Good.” Celestino’s arms came up around Phichit, holding him tight. “I made you a promise before you left… what do you want to do?”

“As much as I want to say something else, I’m going to be a good responsible bodyguard and say no to sex. Neither of us needs the distraction tomorrow. But I would like to stay here tonight. This is good. Tomorrow, it’ll be a very different answer.”


	11. Chapter 11

Nikiforov, it turned out, was an early riser. It was a good thing Phichit had intended to stay for the meeting, because there was no way to get him out of there. Celestino had just barely finished tying his hair back when the knock came. “Good luck,” Phichit whispered, kissing his cheek. “Let’s see what’s going to happen.”

Once Phichit was hidden, Celestino opened the door. “Good morning, Viktor. Yuuri." Yuuri was here? Phichit drew his knife, hoping he wouldn't have to use it. "Come on in.”

“Thank you for giving me the opportunity, Captain Cialdini. Other captains in your position might be far less hospitable.”

“You and your people have behaved yourselves well enough that you earned this meeting." Celestino pushed a chair over for Viktor, who took it. Yuuri shook his head, preferring to stand, while Celestino sat on his desk. "What’s on your mind?”

“I’m sure you’ve noticed that my people have integrated themselves quite well here. They’ve worked hard, kept out of trouble, even Yuri’s temper hasn’t been more of a problem than most people would consider acceptable. I don’t want there to be trouble when we get to port this afternoon.”

“Good, because I would prefer to avoid that, too. You have something in mind, I take it?”

“Allow my people to formally join your crew." Phichit relaxed a little. That was not what he'd expected Viktor to say. "Yuri, for all his temper, is a hard worker and will be one of your best fighters. He doesn’t make friends easily, but when he does make a friend, he is fiercely loyal and will do just about anything for them. Given that the friend he made on your crew is your ship’s medic, and a good medic is worth his weight in gold, I think it’s a much better solution for everyone involved for Yuri to stay here than for Otabek to leave to join us.”

“Yeah, you’re not wrong there. If Otabek really wanted to go, I’d do everything I could to stop him. Taking on Yuri ends up being a bonus for me, if what I’ve seen from him so far is anything to go by.” Celestino paused. “As long as he and JJ can find some way to either avoid each other or get along, anyway. That fight yesterday was not good.”

“That’s something you’d have to talk to JJ about, because I know Yuri does his best to avoid him." Phichit couldn't help nodding at that. JJ meant well, but Yuri just plain did not like him. "So, next, Mila. She’s made herself quite popular, it would seem. Again, I think she would be an asset to your crew, and while I’m less certain what Sara and Michele would do if she left, simple mathematics would tell you that it’s better to take on one than risk losing two.”

“I don’t know, Mickey’s responsible for half the fights around here, jumping to conclusions about people trying to seduce his sister." Phichit put his free hand over his mouth to avoid the laugh. "Getting rid of them might be a good thing – but Emil, I cannot afford to lose, and if the Crispinos leave, so does he. Keeping Mila sounds perfectly reasonable to me.”

Viktor clapped. “Good! Georgi, I promise you, you have not seen at his best. When he’s not in one of his moods, he’s quite fun and outgoing. I think he’ll do better here than he would anywhere else, if Yuri and Mila both stay. He’s more me asking for a favor than being able to show you a solid upside to keeping him, but I figure asking can’t hurt anything!”

"It's worth thinking about, at least." Celestino leaned forward. “What about you?”

“Ah, I am… complicated. I very much want to stay on board, especially if my people do. However, I would understand if you don’t feel you can trust me – or even if you decide you can, you can’t handle having me under your command. Yuri, Mila, Georgi, none of them pose any kind of threat to you. If Yuri were a couple years older, he might be, but no one would take him seriously as a captain, or even an officer, now. But me…”

“What I’ve heard from Yuuri and Chris is that you don’t want to be a captain. You just want to sail. Is that true?” Phichit frowned. What was Celestino up to? Why ask that?

“Yes. If it’s what I have to do to get out to sea again, I will take a ship of my own, but I don’t want the responsibility. I know there are captains out there who would be just as happy to take me on because of my fame, so I’m not worried about finding somewhere.”

“If you leave, do you think there’s anyone from my crew who might go with you?” Celestino turned his head to watch Yuuri closely, as Yuuri went bright red. Phichit clutched his knife tighter. "If"?

Viktor put a finger to his lips, thinking. “If I asked, I know Chris would. I’d like to think that Yuuri would, if you gave him permission, but I don’t know. I refuse to repay your kindness by stealing your first officer from you, but if you would allow him to go, I’d like to take him with me.”

Phichit relaxed, smirking at the look on Yuuri's face. Clearly he was more surprised by Viktor's request than Celestino. The captain cleared his throat. “Yuuri, what do you want to do?”

“I… I don’t know. I want to go with Viktor, but I can’t just leave you after everything you’ve done for me.”

“Do you trust Viktor? Are you willing to put yourself on the line if necessary?”

“I…” Yuuri straightened up. “Yes. I am. I trust Viktor, I believe him when he says he’s no threat to you or to the ship, and I will answer for it if I’m wrong.”

“Hmm.” Celestino looked back to Nikiforov. “Understand that if you make me regret this, Yuuri ends up paying for it. Between Yuuri and Chris, it’s worth the risk.” Yuuri’s surprised gasp mirrored Phichit’s shock. Celestino huffed. “What? You caught me in the mood to take a chance on love. I assume that if Georgi ends up staying, there’s no chance Makkachin leaves, but if he does, would she go with him or stay here?”

“Makkachin is my dog. I share her with everyone on the ship because she is a very friendly dog with a lot of love to share, but she is mine. Wherever I go, she goes.” Viktor glanced over at Yuuri with a soft smile. “Although if Yuuri had chosen to stay and you refused to let me, I think she might have pined for him.”

"Heh. Well, then, we can't have that. Stay here so Makkachin doesn't have to pine for Yuuri."

Yuuri relaxed, a huge smile blooming on his face. “Take a chance on love, huh? I take it Phichit got his head out of his ass to make room for something else?”

Phichit was barely able to smother the snort. Celestino didn’t bother. “Yes, Phichit and I talked things out last night, and as for the second half of that, that is absolutely none of your business.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note rating increase!

It was a little eerie on the ship with so few people on board. Only a handful of the crew stayed behind while everyone else was out on shore leave, just enough to look after the ship if there were an emergency. It was kind of nice, really.

Normally, Phichit would be out on shore leave too. He’d go find a tavern, have some drinks, play some games, flirt with anyone who seemed likely to not cause problems when he left alone, and then find somewhere to collapse until he had to be somewhere. It was a good time, much better than spending the night on the ship being bored.

This time, though, Phichit had something better in mind. When the sun slipped below the horizon, Phichit gathered his courage and some presents from Chris and headed to the captain’s quarters. The door was open, so Phichit walked inside, closing the door behind him. “Celestino?”

“Hey, Phichit.” Celestino put aside the book he was writing in. “Here to celebrate a happy ending?”

“And maybe get another one,” Phichit teased. “After all, tomorrow, only thing I have to do is go shopping. Shouldn’t have to try to save your ass.”

“No, the only threat to my ass right now is you.” Celestino got up and scooped Phichit up in his arms bridal-style. “I take it you’re here to collect?”

“Yep. Last night I was good and responsible and boring and if things had gone badly today I was never going to forgive myself for not at least kissing you. Can I?”

“Of course.” Celestino bent his head, letting Phichit come forward the last couple inches to seal their lips together. It was everything Phichit had dreamed, except for one small, easily-solved problem. Phichit reached around and tugged loose the ribbon holding Celestino’s hair back in a ponytail, letting it fall to the floor as Celestino’s hair spilled free. Now it was perfect.

Celestino carried Phichit over to the bed, laying him down on it to peel off his shirt. “Wow.”

Phichit looked down at himself. “You sound surprised. What were you expecting?”

“I wasn’t really, I’m sure if I’d thought about it I’d have realized you’d be in great shape, but it’s one thing to know you can stand against me in a swordfight and another to see what that looks like. Just accept the compliment, okay?”

“Okay.” Phichit laid back and watched as Celestino made short work of his own clothes. “Whoa. I think I owe you an apology.”

“Hmm?”

“I kept dreaming about you naked, and, uh… I was selling you short. Wow.”

Celestino reddened a little. “If you want to back out, you wouldn’t be the first. I won’t take it personally.”

Phichit got to his feet, wrapping himself around Celestino and holding him tight. “I’m a little intimidated, sure, but it’s gonna take a lot more than that to scare me off, Captain. I have faith in you.”

“Good. I’m glad to know that.” Celestino’s arms came up around Phichit, and then his hands dropped to undo Phichit’s pants. “Let me know if you change your mind. It’s okay, I promise.”

Phichit stepped out of his pants as they dropped, moving back toward the bed and taking Celestino with him. He was a little surprised when Celestino laid down beside him, but he didn’t have long to wonder about it before the captain had pulled him in to resume kissing. Once that started, thinking was not going to happen.

It was still something of a shock when Celestino reached down and wrapped a hand around Phichit’s cock. The roughness of his hands was so different from what he was used to. Celestino paused at Phichit’s gasp. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m great, please keep going. This is amazing.”

“Okay.” Celestino let his hand slide down Phichit’s cock. Once Phichit had recovered a little, he reached for Celestino’s to return the favor. Once he had it in his hand, it no longer seemed as intimidating, and it wasn’t long before he slid down to lick at it. Definitely not as intimidating once he’d wrapped his lips around it. His technique was probably questionable at best, but if Celestino’s reaction was anything to go by, he didn’t seem to mind a bit.

Phichit was not expecting it when Celestino pushed him back. “Stop, Phichit.”

“Okay, but… why?”

“Because if you don’t, I won’t be able to, and my recovery time’s a lot longer than I’d expect yours is.”

“Oh, right, good thinking.” Phichit crawled back up to kiss Celestino again. “So… um…”

“First time with a man?” Celestino guessed.

“Yeah. At home I was watched closely because of being underage, and then when I got out to sea no one was willing to risk my dad’s wrath, so there was like a two-day window where I could have had the opportunity and I was too busy with other things to really take advantage of it.”

“Even stopping at port for supplies and whatever other business your ship did? It's usually not hard to find someone, if you've got enough coin.”

Phichit rolled his eyes. That had been his plan, but prince or not, he wasn't in charge. “Standing orders from the captain that if anyone saw me ‘disgracing the royal family’ by ‘consorting with common whores’ they were to escort me back to the ship and lock me in my quarters until we were safely out to sea. I didn’t know where to go where I could both avoid my shipmates and find someone to sleep with. I was just about starting to figure out some of the common ports we stopped at when the ship went down and I ended up here.”

“Ooof. So, first time at all, then.”

“Nah. First time with someone who actually wants me, but that’s a long story.”

Celestino pulled away, eyebrows drawn together. “You do realize that how that sounds, right? Please tell me it’s not as bad as it sounds?”

Phichit's eyebrows went up. “You know you’re a pirate, right? Pirates are kinda known for that kind of thing.”

“Not on my ship. I captain pirates, not assholes,” Celestino snapped.

“True enough! Anyway, no, it wasn’t like that. She chose to go through with sleeping together, even when I offered to not and say we did. I think she was curious enough to make it worth putting up with me. It wasn’t personal, she just has no interest in men at all. I was heading out to sea, not planning on coming back, so the worst that could happen is the ship went down and I died.”

“Isn’t that what happened?”

“No, see, since there’s no body or proof that I’m dead, our parents can’t force her to marry one of my brothers or something. This is actually the best thing that could have happened for both of us. I never have to go back there, but she’s still considered my wife.”

Celestino choked. “I’m sorry, your _what_?”

“My wife.” Phichit grinned at the look on Celestino’s face. “I did tell you it’s a long story. She told me she’d never forgive me if I used her as an excuse not to enjoy myself out here. It’s not like anyone would’ve expected me to be faithful if I’d stayed, least of all her.”

“Okay, that makes sense, but… you said ‘our’ parents.”

“My parents or her parents.” Phichit burst into laughter when he realized how it could have sounded. “No, I did not marry my sister, that’s just weird.” He ran his fingers through Celestino’s hair. “So if you’re not too bothered by the wife or the lack of experience, can we get back to celebrating?”

There was a brief hesitation, and then Celestino kissed him. “Sounds good to me.”

“Any thoughts on the best way to do this? I know how this works, but you’re the one with experience getting that thing into tight spaces.”

“You sure that’s what you want? I don’t mind going the other way.”

“I’m sure.”

“Alright.” Celestino got Phichit positioned on his knees, and picked up the lube. Phichit let himself relax, doing his best to resist the urge to tense up as Celestino slid a finger inside. Celestino talked to him the whole time he was getting him open, telling him what was happening and how much he’d been looking forward to this. Just when Phichit was starting to get impatient, Celestino stopped and pulled out. “If you need me to give you a minute, or you change your mind and want to stop, just speak up. Okay?”

“You know me, never been afraid to speak up before. Except for hitting on you, but that was different. Just do it.”

Celestino ran a hand down Phichit’s back, letting it come to rest on Phichit’s hip. When he put his cock in, Phichit couldn’t help the gasp. It felt so different from the fingers. Celestino paused, and Phichit looked back at him. “I’m good, keep going.”

Celestino took it slow, giving Phichit all the time he needed to get comfortable. Phichit was super comfortable by the time Celestino started thrusting, and _wow_ did that feel good. He pushed back as Celestino got into a rhythm, breath starting to come in pants and gasps. Celestino’s free hand came around him to take his cock, and almost before Phichit realized what was happening, he was coming.

Celestino pulled out, and Phichit flopped to the bed, still breathing hard. Thankfully, he recovered quickly enough to knock Celestino’s hand aside and finish him off himself. “So worth the wait,” he said once Celestino was able to listen again. “Thank you.”

“Heh. You know, if I ever go home again, I’m going to have to tell my sister about this one.”

“Oh? Why’s that?” Not that Phichit minded Celestino bragging about this, but telling his sister seemed like a weird first thought.

“When we were kids, the group we ran with would play ‘fortune-teller’. Read each other’s plams, if we could get hold of something suitably shiny look into our ‘crystal ball,’ make ‘tea’ with crushed-up leaves from the trees to read the signs in, that sort of thing. We’d make up the craziest shit. One time, Ilaria looked into the broken mirror piece we were using as a crystal ball and announced to everyone that I was going to fuck a princess one day.” Celestino wrapped his arms around Phichit. “She was a little off, but considering everything… not bad.”

“Ha! Not bad at all." Phichit snuggled in. "What’s she doing now?”

Celestino shrugged, which was interesting with Phichit cuddling his shoulder. “Last I checked in with her, she was married to some dockworker I never got around to meeting and had a couple kids. That was ten years ago. I have no idea if she’s still alive, even. Venice got hit with a nasty plague a couple years ago, or if she had another kid childbirth can be a killer.”

“You ever think about going back?”

“No. I can’t." Off Phichit's questioning look, Celestino explained, "Military deserter, remember? If I ever set foot in Venice again, they’ll kill me. I’d write to her, but she can’t read and finding someone to read it to her could get her in trouble for being in contact with me. She knew what I was planning on doing, we got the chance to say goodbye, I left her in a pretty good life.”

“Only thing I regret about my ship going down is that they were going back to Thailand eventually. One of my sisters wanted to come with me, but Dad said no because she was too young. I had every intention of going right back out after we got home, and by the time we got back there next year, she’d be old enough to take along.” Phichit sighed and let himself miss one of the few things about home that could get him to go back. “If she wasn’t married off, of course, which she probably would be.”

Celestino hummed thoughtfully. “Do you think it would be worth the trip out there to see?”

As much as he wanted to say otherwise, Phichit was not going to lie. “Probably not. Dad might let her go off with a ship of his people who he could trust to make sure she behaved in a manner that reflected well on the royal family, but he’d never let her go off with pirates. We’d have to kidnap her, and that would get you in a lot of trouble.”

“I’m a pirate. Trouble’s what I do!”

If Celestino was willing to take that risk, maybe it would be worth it. No need to decide tonight, Celestino had promised the crew that they'd be in port for a few days. “I’ll think about it, I guess. Where are we going after this?”

“Not sure yet. I haven’t heard any good rumors to chase. If nothing comes up before we leave, probably go harass Spanish shipping lanes until something better comes along or I get bored.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is why I do not write porn. Blame Phayte for the huge delay in getting this chapter out.


End file.
